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About FAS

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) links U.S. agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security.

In addition to its Washington, D.C. staff, FAS has a global network of 96 offices covering 167 countries. These offices are staffed by agricultural attachés and locally hired agricultural experts who are the eyes, ears, and voice for U.S. agriculture around the world. FAS staff identify problems, provide practical solutions, and work to advance opportunities for U.S. agriculture and support U.S. foreign policy around the globe.

FAS expands and maintains access to foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products by removing trade barriers and enforcing U.S. rights under existing trade agreements. FAS works with foreign governments, international organizations, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to establish international standards and rules to improve accountability and predictability for agricultural trade.

FAS partners with 75 cooperator groups representing a cross-section of the U.S. food and agricultural industry and manages a toolkit of market development programs to help U.S. exporters develop and maintain markets for hundreds of products. FAS also supports U.S. agricultural exporters through export credit guarantee programs and other types of assistance.

FAS leads USDA’s efforts to help developing countries improve their agricultural systems and build their trade capacity. FAS also partners with the U.S. Agency for International Development to administer U.S. food aid programs, helping people in need around the world. FAS’s non-emergency food aid programs help meet recipients’ nutritional needs and also support agricultural development and education.